University of Central Florida hosted Zhenya Evtushenko for a Night of Poetry. On November 11, the guest presented the poetry of his world-famous father Evgeniy Evtushenko.

Evgeniy Evtushenko was a Soviet and Russian poet. He was also a novelist, essayist, dramatist, screenwriter, publisher, actor, editor, university professor, and director of several films. In 1961, he became famous for his poem Babi Yar that revealed the forgotten tragedy — in September 1941, Nazi occupying forces murdered more than 33,000 Jews in the ravine near Kyiv, Ukraine. Yevtushenko’s deeply moving poem was first published in the Literaturnaya Gazeta.

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The event was organized by Dr. Alla Kourova as a part of the annual International Education Week at the University of Central Florida. International Education Week (IEW) is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Education that celebrates the benefits of international education and exchange across campuses worldwide.